Murder On The Mind

Murder On The Mind - Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

By the time the uniforms had taken me back upstairs, my hands were bound with the heavy plastic strips cops now use instead of handcuffs. The ambulance bearing my brother had already left. A beefy patrolman shoved me into the first pew.

No one knew anything about Richard. No one would tell me anything. Someone hollered that Hayden was on his way. The church had been cleared, with witnesses being interviewed elsewhere. Another team of paramedics had arrived and departed, carting Sharon away, accompanied by a police escort.

I hadn’t been in a fight since my high school days. I’d never hit a woman. I’d been determined to prevent her from ever hurting anyone else—so why did I now feel so ashamed?

Sharon’s bloodied face, twisted with anger, was such a contrast to that of the statue of Our Lady of Victory, which towered above the church’s gilded, ornate altar. Some sculptor unknown to me had captured in stone the embodiment of true compassion. I prayed to the Virgin in an endless litany, Don’t let Rich die. Please don’t let Rich die.

“Strange to see you without your other half,” Hayden said from behind me.

I turned and glared at him. “She shot him. Now are you convinced I was right?”

Hayden had the decency to look embarrassed.

I steeled myself to ask the next question. “Is my brother still alive?”

Hayden looked grim. “He was when they left here.”

“Thanks,” I said. At least he was being straight with me. “Can you take these off? I only beat up the bitch, I’m not planning to hurt anyone else.”

“Did a number on her, too, I hear. Thompson!” Hayden called, and the uniformed cop came over and removed the restraints. Hayden sat beside me on the pew. “Tell me about it.”

I did.

“Well, the witnesses confirm she shot your brother. After they finish with her at the hospital, she’ll be booked. Then we’ll look into the rest of it. Here,” he handed me a set of keys. “One of the patrolmen gave them to me. The black lady with your brother asked him to see that you got them.”

I stared at Brenda’s ring with keys to the house and both cars. Richard’s Lincoln was still parked on one of the side streets.

“Thanks.”

“They took him to ECMC,” Hayden said.

“Where?”

“Erie County Medical Center. Used to be called Meyer Memorial.”

I nodded. “I know the place.”

“You can give us a detailed statement tomorrow.” He clapped me on the back, a gesture that almost resembled friendship. “I know where to find you, right?”

“Yeah, right.”

Hugging my broken arm, I got up and headed for the back entrance.

A block from the church, I found Sharon’s station wagon. The little boy was asleep on the back seat, his tear-streaked face at peace. He didn’t know his mother would never come for him.

The driver’s side door was unlocked. I opened it and poked my head inside. “Hey, partner.”

The boy blinked awake, unafraid of me. “Go away.”

“Remember me, sport?”

“You’re the bad man who wants to hurt my Mommy.”

“That was a misunderstanding. Do you know any policemen?”